Explained: Why Cristiano Ronaldo Cannot Be Compared to Lionel Messi

• Gary Lineker has explained why there has not been a GOAT debate between Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in the first place
• Ronaldo holds the advantage over Messi in terms of career goals scored, Champions League victories and top league titles won
• But Lineker has insisted that assessing the aforementioned duo based on career goals and trophies won is out of order

Cristiano Ronaldo versus Lionel Messi - who is the GOAT? It is the biggest conundrum in football, and it will continue to weigh heavily on the minds of football fans for the foreseeable future.

For more than ten years, Ronaldo and Messi have engaged in an incredible sporting rivalry. Between the Argentine phenom and the Portuguese sensation, they have a shared 12 Ballon d'Ors, with Messi outpacing Ronaldo with seven awards to the Al-Nassr superstar's five.

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But many football fans believed the ever-divisive GOAT debate was over when Leo Messi won the World Cup in Qatar shortly before Christmas, per Hindustan Times.

However, the former England international, who finished as the top scorer at the 1986 World Cup, reckons there has never been a debate to begin with.

"He (Messi) is just phenomenal," Lineker told talkSPORT in 2019 via Mirror. "He's 31 now (Messi is now aged 35), and he's still going strong. He plays the game in a way the rest of us are not familiar with. I watch a lot of football, and people pine on this whole Messi vs Ronaldo debate; there's no comparison for me."

The 62-year-old has been unrepentantly biased in favour of the mercurial Argentine playmaker, and he reveals why.

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"Messi is on a different level to everybody else. It's as simple as that. People say to me, what about Ronaldo's goalscoring record and so forth?

"But I say to them have you seen Messi pass a football? Have you seen him dribble towards goal?"

Lineker justifies GOAT choice

Gary Lineker has justified his choice in the greatest of all-time (GOAT) debate involving Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, Sports Brief reported.

Lineker has often argued in favour of the Paris Saint-Germain star, insisting Messi is a cut above his mates and rests a notch higher among the pantheons of football greats.

He adds that Messi and Diego Maradona played football in a way that no other player in history could have ever fathomed.

Bellingham settles Messi, Ronaldo debate

Earlier, Sports Brief reported on Jude Bellingham being the latest superstar to add his voice to the ongoing debate on which footballer is the greatest of all time between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

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Messi and Ronaldo have dominated football for almost two decades, winning multiple titles and individual honours, thereby creating a rivalry that has seen fans pitch their tents in either camp.

Bellingham has now revealed his GOAT to be ‘Messi’ as he describes then five-time Ballon d’Or winner as not human due to his abilities.